healing from B12 def

[MotherMoon]

As I struggle through daily hoping I will feel better soon, I wonder if I am doing something wrong or just not doing enough to help myself feel better. As I mentioned in another thread, I am not taking additional B12 besides my shots as I want the dr to get an accurate picture of how the shots are doing when I go back in in a couple of weeks. I am resuming my Bcomplex (has no b12) and a multivite (that I can barely swallow, what's with horsepills). I also take Lysine for mouth ulcers as needed and am researching taking 5-htp for depression. I am also investigating taking Euthero ginseng again for depression. I am active and have been trying to remain so. In the past with depression, giving into the fatigue has made the depression worse. I shoot pistols in competitive defensive competitions at least once a month, lately twice a month. 8 hours on my feet. (The last weekend I did this was actually the best I have felt despite spending 8 of the 16 hours on my feet over two days in the rain.) I also have an active family (understatment of the year).

Should I be resting more? My appetite sucks but I am trying to maintain a 1/2 decent diet. I wish my cravings for doritoes and hamburgers would stop. I could eat better but fatigue makes that harder.

I guess I am wondering if we can all post what might have helped us most recover from B12. Is there something day to day that helped you cope? Did eliminating something help you a lot?

Thanks.
Michelle

[Abbie323]

Mothermoon-

I am sorry if you mentioned this in an earlier post and I missed it but if you have mouth ulcers, you might want to make sure you don't have something like Crohn's. My sister has crohn's and her mouth hurts so bad that she cannot sleep at night.

If you do have something like that, it could also make your recovery slower because you are still sick from something else.

I am with you though, I am not taking extra b12 or any vitamins right now because I want an accurate reading on my blood work.

I am sure the healing process just takes time...or at least I tell myself that as I continue to feel bad on a daily basis.

I am sure Rose can give you some more "professional" advice though.

Good luck with everything. I hope you don't have anything like Crohn's!

-Abbie

[rose]

B12.

There are others who have more complex problems, but it doesn't matter in the short term what else I do. The B12 is what I needed and continue to need. Of course, I do other things to support my body, but through trial and error, blood tests, etc., I have found that there is no other essential for me.

And many of the problems that have improved immensely or gone entirely did not seem to be improving for months, even in some cases years. Very frightening process. Often, just about the time I would give up, something else would change for the better----often something that had become even more troublesome "temporarily."

rose

[orthomolecular]

My appetite sucks but I am trying to maintain a 1/2 decent diet. I wish my cravings for doritoes and hamburgers would stop. I could eat better but fatigue makes that harder.

Thanks.
Michelle

If you have an appetite problem then you should check your zinc levels. Zinc Status will cost you something like $15 or less in the health food store. This product tells you immediately if you have a zinc deficiency. You should be supplementing vitamin b6 with the b12, plus of course folic acid. Folic acid always with b12. I do no recommend that you take a b complex; take each b vitamin as a separate supplement to ensure you are getting sufficient amounts.

But vitamin b6 works well with zinc. A zinc deficiency might also explain the fatigue. Zinc is needed by the adrenal glands. Always take zinc supplements with food. A zinc supplement of about 60 to 80 mg. per day will induce a copper deficiency. Always talk to your doctor about taking zinc supplements to avoid the risk of a copper deficiency.

NO ONE ever really has a deficiency in just one nutrient. Usually when you supplement one nutrient because that one is low, you really need to take other nutrients as well.

I do not recommend anyone use either 5htp or tryptophan without being tested by a doctor. You should have a tryptophan load test first to see if your body is able to metabolize the 5htp or tryptophan. But taking either of those (any amino acid for that matter) and not having enough vitamin b6 will only cause problems and not really increase your serotonin levels. Your body really needs vitamin b6 and niacin to increase serotonin levels. You need to have enough vitamin b6 before you consider supplementing any amino acid. Some amino acids can become toxic without enough vitamin b6. One example is methionine can become homocysteine (a toxic amino acid) without enough b6 in the body.

[MotherMoon]

Abbie,

I have gluten sensitivity, undiagnosed. I had a celiac test that came back negative but I am, for the most part, off gluten. I did eat it for several days prior to the test and made myself sick. My dad was diagnosed celiac at 3 years old, 50 years ago. My youngests has two copies of the gluten sensitivity gene which means I have at least one copy.

I may call my doc and see if I can do daily sublingual with the weekly shots. Thanks Rose.

[rose]

Most docs don't know that 1000 mcg at a time causes some B12 to get through even when severe malabsorption exists. So be prepared for the doc to laugh at the idea.

Oral Treatment:

Goldman: Cecil Textbook of Medicine, 21st Ed., W. B. Saunders Company

Page 1056

"Oral cobalamin, 1 to 2 mg/day [1000 to 2000 mcg per day], is the treatment of choice for most patients. This [oral] dose is as effective and possibly superior to a parenteral [shots] regimen in all causes of cobalamin deficiency because 1 to 2% of an oral dose is always absorbed by diffusion. For patients who may not be compliant [may not continue treatment on their own], intramuscular or subcutaneous cyanocobalamin can be given. One approach consists of injections of 1 mg of cyanocobalamin [the cheapest and least effective form of B12] once per week for 8 weeks, then once per month for life. More frequent injections often are used in hospitalized patients or patients with marked neuropsychiatric abnormalities, but no evidence of incremental benefit has been shown. When the weekly injections are completed, the patient or a family member or friend can be taught to give the monthly injections. Parenteral and high-dose oral regimens give prompt and equivalent hematologic and neurologic responses, but post-treatment serum cobalamin levels are significantly higher and post-treatment methylmalonic acid levels are significantly lower with the oral regimen. With either the parenteral or the oral regimens, the absolute requirement of lifetime therapy must be well understood by the patient and the patient's family. Because cobalamin is inexpensive and free of side effects, it is better to give too much than too little [If there is a symptom indicating reaction, it is a good thing]."

[bolding and brackets added by rose]

[rose]

but it is possible to be low in only one.

rose